Tyson Fury has shared his thoughts on whether or not David Benavidez can become a formidable heavyweight operator.

The 29-year-old has already expressed his interest in moving up in weight but, first, he is attempting to cement himself as a dominant world champion at 200lbs.

In order to do so, Benavidez must defeat Jai Opetaia – the other consensus top-two cruiserweight – who he is targeting for a Cinco de Mayo showdown in 2027.

Before that, though, the three-division world champion is expected to face Michal Cieslak in December, bidding to add the WBC title to his collection of WBO and WBA cruiserweight belts.

He claimed those two straps against Gilberto Ramirez, who he dethroned with a sixth-round stoppage while making his 200lb debut in May.

As a result, many feel that ‘The Mexican Monster’ has the ability to compete at heavyweight, where he was linked to an unexpected opportunity after it seemed Fury’s clash with Anthony Joshua was close to being scuppered.

Instead, it was announced that the two Brits will collide on December 11, but ‘The Gypsy King’ nonetheless told FuriociTV that Benavidez would be a much tougher opponent than Joshua.

“What a fight that [Fury-Benavidez] would be. The only thing is that, with David Benavidez, he’s about a four to five times harder fight than Joshua.

“I’ll take it because that’s what I do – there’s not a man on this earth that I won’t fight. But never think that Joshua’s a tougher fight than David Benavidez. He stops Joshua in about three rounds.”

While he was briefly linked to a Fury clash, Benavidez’s father and trainer, Jose Benavidez Sr, has also expressed an interest in his son fighting Andy Ruiz Jr.